


lancito

by ribroast



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Flirting, Fluff, Galaxy Garrison, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), JuLance Challenge 2020, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) in Dresses, M/M, Monsters & Mana (Voltron), Platonic Relationships, additional tags yet to be added!!, normalize men in dresses!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25037821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ribroast/pseuds/ribroast
Summary: JULANCE 2020 COLLECTION
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance & Voltron Paladins
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	1. day 1: blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance likes to wear dresses, and spots the perfect one at the mall.

When Lance was younger, he used to sneak into his mom's room and try on her dresses. 

He isn't transgender, and has always felt comfortable in his body. He just liked how they look, and how they felt on his body. He felt handsome in them, and he would pose in his mom's mirror tacked up to the wall, blowing little kisses and giggling to himself. 

One day, he was wearing his mom's favorite dress. It was Lance's favorite too, it was blue and cinched slightly at the waist so it puffed out slightly, the tule under the creamy azure dress tickled his tan legs. He had blossomed like a flower in front of the mirror, swiveling on his hips and placing a hand delicately at the waist, smirking to himself as the warmth in his chest grew. It felt so right, and he felt so- he felt that he was beautiful. 

"Lancito-" Lance's mom opened the door, her face going blank when her then 12 year old son spun to her with a gasp, the dress swishing. 

Lance was mortified, absolutely terrified. He didn't even wait for his mom to say anything, practically tearing off the dress and running out of the room, only in his boxers. 

Lance and his mother just never spoke about it after that. 

The memory is brought into Lance's mind when they enter the huge swap-mall, the arched skylights and blinding lighting enough to remind Lance about the large mall that was only a few miles from his childhood home.

"Alright paladins. Even though we're saving the universe, we're not billionaires. I'm giving you each 25 gac. So spend it wisely." Shiro dug into the bulging polyester pouch Allura had dropped into his hands from earlier and pulled out a handful of the small, green tinted coins. He counted them with his thumb, before sliding 25 little coins into Hunk's largely cupped palms. 

"What can we spend with this? Anything?"Pidge perked up, and Shiro smiled. 

"Yep! You can buy anything you'd like. Just not a cow. We already have one of those." Shiro joked, glancing at Lance who pouted at the laughter. 

Once Shiro had given all of them their money, the paladins practically darted in opposite directions from each other. Pidge was already a yard away from them at the 'Technology Wares' store while Shiro was telling everyone the time they had to get back by. Hunk had disappeared off into the crowd before Lance could even accompany, and a feeling of loneliness quelled in him when Keith and Shiro began to step onto the escalator, discussing something animatedly, Shiro waving his hands and patting Keith's head. 

Keith laughed, his eyes crinkling and his mouth gaping, and Lance quickly spun away, dismissing the burning in his cheeks as anger for his friends abandoning him. 

Lance wasn't very surprised that had happened anyways. 

Lance stuffed his coins in his right pocket and scanned the storefronts from where he was standing. He didn't really seem to see anything he was thoroughly enjoying, there wasn't really a garlic knots stand or a comic book store that Lance could poke into. 

His eyes did end up on the place he was the most avoidant at looking at. 

The sign sitting on top of the store's entrance was pink and had fake lace wrapping around the alien words. Lance could see a few dresses and skirts sitting primly in the storefront window, and his intrigue peaked when he saw two aliens exiting the store, one wearing a skirt and the other wearing a pantsuit. From the goatee growing under the alien's three mouths, and the significant bulge the alien in the pantsuit was hefting around, they were both men. (Come on, Lance was bi. He can respectfully look if he wanted to!)

Male aliens wearing skirts? Were there different quotas for masculine and feminine in space? Lance hadn't worn a dress since he was twelve, but he had lusted after girly clothing like dresses and skirts in private, thinking about what it would be like to prance around in a skirt as freely as these men. But now that dream he had thought about could possibly be a reality. His parents aren't here...and neither are his friends from school. The paladins wouldn't even have to know about it! It's not like they were holding meetings or training sessions _in his room._

Lance felt daring enough to take a few steps forward, until he was making a swift pace down the mall-walkway, stepping out of the way for aliens who just didn't seem to want to move and apologizing with a finger gun when a pretty female alien accidentally bumped into him. It was almost to quick when he arrived at the store front, and now that he was closer the faint smell of something sweet and girly alien pop music was ringing from inside the store. Fear made Lance glue to his spot in front of the store awkwardly, and he suddenly regretted all of his decisions of ever walking over here. 

What if people made fun of him? What if one of his friends saw and questioned him about it? Everyone knew he was bisexual but even this seemed somewhat bruising to his "loverly lance" ego. What if _Keith_ saw?

Instead of embarrassment brought a different kind of humiliation that made his heart leap faster, and before he knew it, he was walking inside the store, lingering around the more higher displays so he didn't have to watch the store window apprehensively. 

Mountains of different fabrics, textures and colors surrounded him, and suddenly Lance felt overwhelmed. What was he going to pick with only 25 gac? It was significantly more than most of the items priced in the store, but anxiety still dripped down his back at the thought of Shiro questioning why he spent so much of his money. 

"Hi. I'm Oolak, can I help you sir?" A gurgling voice chirped from behind Lance, and he spun around his quickly the sales assistant jumped slightly. 

"Uh sorry!" Lance apologized, rigid with horror. 

The employee laughed, and she shook her head. 

"You're fine! You seem nervous. Don't worry, tons of guys come in here all the time." She waved him off with a tentacle, one of her gold earrings dangling from her elephant like ears glistening in the lighting of the store. 

Surprisingly, this news seemed to bring Lance to extreme ease, his shoulders unconsciously dropping. 

"I can help you pick out something really cute if you'd like! Have a favorite color?" She asked, and Lance thought to himself. 

What did he want? He's so foolish, he hadn't even thought of this before he had entered the store!

"Blue." He blurted on impulse, but it seemed to be right when he admitted it, like fitting into an imaginary puzzle piece for this mortifying experience. 

Oolak hummed, her ears twitching slightly as she brought her other tentacle hand up to her mouth, as if she was thinking. 

"Come with me!" Oolak lit up, and she suddenly scurried off, surprising Lance when a purple tail swished behind her. 

Lance quickly made his way through the shop towards where Oolak was walking. Oolak greeted a few customers on the way in, before suddenly stopping at a random rack and reaching for a flimsy hanger. 

And then she pulled out one of the prettiest dresses Lance had ever seen. 

It was a basic, sky blue slip dress. It didn't have any distinct designs but it was very dainty and pretty. 

"We have dressing rooms if you'd like to try it on!" Oolak interrupted Lance's state of shock, and he wordlessly nodded, gently taking the dress in his hands like it was a child and shuffling after Oolak to the back of the store. 

She plucked a key off the pegboard and quickly swept towards one of the tiny dressing rooms, aggressively unlocking it and chuckling. 

"It takes a second to unlock. It's all yours!" Oolak bowed and began to walk away, the sense of comfort from her gone and leaving Lance more anxious then he was before. 

He quickly entered the dressing room and pulled the door shut behind him, hesitantly beginning to peel off his clothes until he was only in his boxers, his clothes laying dejectedly on the floor. He glanced at the dress hanging on the hook in the dressing room, and slid it off the hook, sighing and stepping into it. The excitement was pumping through his veins as he pulled the delicate dress up his body and over his ass, surprised to feel it was significantly hugging it. He put his arms through the dainty straps, refusing to look up. He was terrified he would like it. If he liked it, then what would happen? What was he supposed to do after that?

Lance looked up and softly gasped. He _really_ liked it. 

The dress hugged his waist and the straps were thin and saintly, like little slivers of pale blue waterfalls dipping into the low flat dip cut neckline. It brought out the slight curves in his silhouette, and he turned to the side, his eyes practically bulging because his butt was significantly better looking in this dress. It was stretchy at the bottom for walking and the little slits on the side opened up the opportunity to encourage Lance's habit of man spreading. He felt good, he felt like he looked good. 

He had to buy this dress. 

Quickly exiting the dressing room after putting on his clothes, he made his way to the back of the store where the checking out kiosk was. To his surprise, Oolak was there, typing some numbers on what looked like was a computer. 

"Oh hey! Did you like the dress?" She asked, taking it from him and removing the security device, scanning the tag under the scanner and placing it on the table. 

"Uh yeah, it was really..nice?" Lance wasn't used to being so awkward. He had always been so quick with his words and to not have anything to say was equally as terrifying as walking into the store. 

"Good, I'm glad! That'll be 15 gac please." She smiled widely, and Lance dug into his pocket, placing 15 round green coins on the table, thankful he didn't spend them all. 

"We also have accessories like hair clips and makeup if you'd like to look at those too." Oolak suggested, and Lance resisted the urge to scream 'Yes!' at the top of his lungs. 

"No thank you, just the dress." Lance cordially asked, signing the receipt in a scrawled text and handing it back to her, smiling timidly. 

"Oki dok! Have a good day then. It was nice meeting you." Oolak bowed again, and Lance nodded, taking the thankfully black bag from the counter and nervously walking towards the front of the store, exiting and feeling like he just came up for a huge breathe of water.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

"Lance?"Keith called, and Lance looked up in terror at Keith standing in front of him with a confused look. 

"What were you doing in there?" Keith obliviously asked. 

Lance felt like he couldn't breathe again. He could feel his cheeks getting redder, and suddenly his feet were taking off down the mall, running away from a now yelling Keith, who was running after him. 

He pushed past alien folk and weaved throughout the mall, almost lost. The entrance was so close yet so far, and he felt that the only thing fueling him from collapsing was knowing Keith was chasing after him. 

Lance was once again humiliated. He sobbed, throwing the black bag in the trash before walking through the hallway designated for the opening to the castle, sloppily typing in the code to open the castle doors and sliding in. 

By the time he had made it to his room, Lance's face was wet and his nose was runny. 

Why couldn't he just be normal and like wearing male clothes _only_? Keith was probably disgusted with him, and he felt disgusted with himself. He suddenly wanted to erase any memory of the beautiful dress, clutching the pillow he was weeping into. 

He heard a knock on his door, and he groaned, turning towards the wall. 

"Go away!" Lance whined, but the person seemed to take it as an invitation to come in. 

"Lance? Are you ok?" The door whooshed aside, and Lance could make out Keith's shadow on the wall behind his bed. 

Lance's ears were red, he could feel it. This was more humiliating than the incident with his mother. 

Lance continued to question why he chose this. why he always circled back to dresses and makeup and hair clips when it would eventually hurt him in the long run. He had just wasted fifteen gac, on something that wouldn't do Lance any good.

The bed dipped, and Lance curled in on himself even more, shying away from the increasing dip in the bed. Something in Keith's hands made a quiet whooshing noise. 

"You forgot something." Keith's voice was soft now, like warm honey. 

It's different to his usual aggressive tone, one that always leads Lance out on a tightrope of chasing after Keith until he wins the argument. He knows deep down why he always fires up Keith, and he feels that Keith knows it too. But something about admitting it is just as humiliating as the situation right now. Burning terror always paralyzes him when they have a moment alone, when Keith is staring at him with molten lavender eyes. 

"I think.." Keith shuffled with something in his hands, and Lance opened his eyes, facing the wall. 

"That blue is a pretty color on you." Keith mumbled, laying the dress Lance had impulsively thrown out in front of him on the bed. 

Lance froze. Keith had dug out the dress?? But why?

Lance slowly sat up, his face still blotchy from tears, black eyelashes clotted together in wetness. He turned to Keith who had a small smile on his face. 

"But I thought.." Lance trailed off, sniffing and turning to sit on his haunches, touching the edge of the dress. 

"I was ah- confused. I didn't mean to make you think that I was..disgusted or upset by it." Keith scratched the back of his nervously, brushing a piece of hair out of his face in the process. 

"But it is.."

Keith's expression changed, his small falling slightly. 

"That's not true Lance. You can wear anything you want."

"It's embarrassing-"

"That's because you're not used to it yet. But if you wanna wear dresses, I doubt anyone here will make it an environment for you to be embarrassed. Besides.. I'd like to see you.." Keith mumbled the last part so a bit of texan drawl rolled out, his cheeks pinking.

Inexplainable warmth flurried everywhere in Lance's body. Keith wanted to _see_ him in the dress? This thought flustered Lance's confidence just a bit. The thought of Keith seeing him in something that made him feel so good was almost to overwhelming to think about. 

"You do?" Lance looked up, his blue eyes flickering something he couldn't even explain. 

"If you want to, I would- I wouldn't mind, well- I think that-"

"Ok."

Keith's eyes widened, and he didn't say anything, just watching as Lance nervously picked up the dress and stumbled into the bathroom, closing the door softly. For the second time today, he stripped off his clothes and delicately pulled up the satin dress, smiling fondly when the blue fabric popped against his tan skin. He looked up at himself and brushed some of his hair out of his face. He smoothed down the cool fabric and adjusted the straps, turning towards the door. 

Lance couldn't help but be nervous. Keith was going to see him in a _dress_. The thought made his stomach jump, and he tentatively opened the door, slipping through it and ripping his eyes from the ground up to where Keith was sitting. 

Keith's jaw was dropped slightly, his eyes wide and an intense blush flustering his face at the sight of Lance in a dress. He was gorgeous, and Keith could tell that Lance felt gorgeous. 

"Say something." Lance couldn't take the silence anymore, it was strangling him to an extremity he couldn't stand. It made his toes curl and his mouth almost pucker. 

Keith locked eyes with Lance, standing up and closing his mouth. He slowly approached Lance, almost as if he would flee if Keith ran towards him. He probably would if Lance was being honest, he felt like a live wire, bursting with energy and nervousness. Keith smiled, and Lance was shocked to feel Keith's fingers intertwine with his own at his side. 

"Blue is definitely your color, Lance." Keith smirked, and Lance couldn't help but smile. 

Maybe wearing dresses was ok. If Keith smiled like this maybe the rest of the team would be ok with it too. Hopefully not as ok about it as Keith, Lance chuckled at that thought. 

"Thank you." Lance smiled, closing his eyes when Keith leaned in. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: ribroast


	2. day 2: garrison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets into the Garrison, and gets kidnapped for initiation.

Lance first hears about the Garrison from his sister Veronica, who joined when Lance entered 8th grade. The way Veronica babbled on and on about it strung Lance on so hard, he became determined to enter himself. To prove to himself, to his sister, that he was just as good as her. He studied for hours and hours about everything he could think of. He was so focused on entering the Garrison his grades began to rise moderately. His parents were thrilled, and encouraged him to keep going. Nothing was more rewarding than parental praise. It was like a medal of fucking honor to Lance for some reason. 

Lance had a book under his arm wherever he went. He read physics, geometry, philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, and even culinary books. He did it in class, before school, after school, it got to a point where it felt almost _odd_ not reading. He had never been this studious and it intrigued his parents. Lance could hear them at night speaking greatly about Lance, and worrying if he was interacting with others enough and if he was even eating enough. 

Lance had to unfortunately put girls and his other friends on hold for his studies, and though it had been heartbreaking for his girlfriend Jenny Walters to dump him for not holding her hand, he quickly recovered with a passionate drive and fervor. 

It all lead up to one day, a month or so after he had nervously taken the tests, and he was biking home. He was enjoying the cool air on his face as he sluggishly pedaled through the suburban area when he heard yelling and screaming coming down the street. He looked up to see his family- _his whole family_ \- screaming and running towards him with wide smiles. 

Veronica had an already opened envelope in her hand, and Lance practically crashed his bike in shock, swerving it just in time out of the way from a car and throwing it down to the ground, racing towards his family with a wide smile. 

"I got in?!" Lance squealed, making grabby hands for the envelope.

"You got in!" Rachel screamed from somewhere in the cluster of the McClain family, and everyone erupted in cheers of laughter and smiling. 

Lance was shocked. He was in pure disbelief. There was no way he had been accepted. 

That night, his family took him out on the town to their favorite restaurant, and they all cheered to Lance's acceptance. 

Of course, that happiness was quickly snatched from him. 

He had just arrived at the Garrison, eyes wide with pure wonder and duffle bag slung over his back. The card a lady at the reception desk had given him was for his room, and he swiped it, the door swishing open and his duffel bag dropping to the floor. Unpacking was normal. He didn't have much to unpack in the first place, a few uniforms ranging from the different styles the garrison required, a couple casual clothes, some books and his stuffed animal. But no one has to know about the last item. 

Just when he was finished, there was a hollow knocking on his door. Unsuspecting to him, he opened it to be pulled from his room. 

He squawked in confusion as tape was slapped over his mouth and his arms were pinned to his back, a bag being brought over his head. 

Lance was being abducted his first day of moving in to his dream school! They have to be joking! 

Lance squirmed and screamed into the muffled tape, but it was no use, the three people that were wrangling him down the hall were strong. Lance eventually accepted that he was going to die, and slumped in the hold of the people, only to be thrown onto the ground. 

He grunted, and eyes widened when the bag was pulled off his head. He squinted, his eyes adjusting to the bright light.

Where was he? 

It looked like a room in the Garrison, metal walls and orange neon stripes lining the wall. He was utterly confused. 

"Lance McClain. You are here for Garrison orientation." A masked figure stepped forward, their voice deep. 

"You are to go through one trial of bravery to prove that you are not only smart enough to get into the garrison, but strong enough." A more feminine voice stepped forward, she was wearing a kabuki looking mask. 

Lance realized there were over twenty people in the room, all wearing different masks of shapes and sizes. 

Someone came up behind him ripping the tape off his lips, the mustache he had been growing for at least 6 months going with it. Lance groaned at the burning feeling on his mouth. 

"And what if I fail?" Lance dared to ask, and the people around him chuckled.

"Then you will be socially ostracized from everyone here at the Garrison." The male voice spoke again, he was wearing an elephant mask. 

Lance's stomach dropped. This was definitely not in the description of the school. He definitely did not want to be rejected from society here at the Garrison. Lance thrived on his friends and talking with others. The thought of being deprived of that hurt almost as much as his mustache he had been working on for fucking MONTHS-

"Choose between the three." Elephant mask interrupted Lance's inner monologue, placing three little knick knacks in front of Lance. 

Lance frowned. 

There was a dolphin with sunglasses, a green jade stone, and a shoe string. Geez, the Garrison initiation was really on a low budget huh?

"The dolphin with the sunglasses." Lance obviously chose, smirking at the mumbling amongst the throttle of people. 

Elephant and Kabuki mask were silent.

"You've chosen to undergo the simulation." Kabuki mask announces, and Lance's heart drops. 

He has had no training in the simulation whatsoever. Doesn't even know how the buttons work. He really screwed up. 

The mask wearers cheer as someone hoists Lance over their shoulder and he's being pushed along a crowd of people who chant and yell and cheer. 

The simulation room is nice, and right next to the pod where he will meet his room. a person wearing a wolfish mask stands, looking pretty bored from his posture. 

Lance is set down in front of the masked wolf boy, and he pauses. 

Lance can barely see the boys eyes through the mask, but they're dark, almost like a purple, and they're staring directly at him. 

He's repulsed internally by the way his heart flutters at the sight of the wolf boys longish black hair poking out of the back of his mask, curling like his own mane of fur. 

"You will drink 5 shots of tequila, and then enter this simulation after we spin you 7 times. If you crash or throw up, you fail the simulation." The kabuki mask girl comes to stand next to wolf boy, and she nudges his shoulder aggressively. 

Wolf boy scoffs softly, and pops open the tequila, making everyone cheer. He quickly pours 5 shots, and Lance already feels queasy.

"Your challenge starts..now!" Someone yells, and Lance is frozen on the spot. 

People are cheering and yelling around him, and he jumps at their aggressive encouragement. 

Lance isn't a little bitch. He has older sisters, and he's had sips of alcohol before. Just not this much. 

He downs the first shot, shivering with disgust at the burning feeling creeping down his throat. It gets easier with the second, and he drinks the third and fourth like they're water, slamming them down on the table. 

He glances up at wolf boy to see his eyes flickering with some sort of amusement, and Lance can't help but smirk as he downs the last shot. 

The cheering gets louder, and suddenly, he's being pushed away from wolf boy and the table and towards the simulation. He's whirred around, and the burning feeling in his stomach starts to turn into fluttering, getting dizzier and dizzier overtime he's spun around. 

A girl in a frog like mask shrieks and pushes him into the simulation, and he stumbles over the step, crashing to the floor and standing up, stumbling towards the seats. He's definitely not blackout drunk, but it's enough to make his head feel fuzzy and his eyes to not focus on one thing. The dizziness makes his stomach hurt, and the simulation starts as soon as he crashes down to the seat, scrambling for the controls. 

The simulation jet takes off into the sky, and the cheering slowly disappears behind him as he rockets higher and higher into the clouds, swerving a bit. He scrambles to stay neat, but his arm continues to slip momentarily after he keeps it up. 

He internally scolds himself for not taking the time to practice more when it comes to piloting, and he knows what he has to do when the astroid belt comes into view. He grips the steering wheel like it's his life, his ears syncing in and out and in and out to the screams of everyone in the doorway of the simulation, almost afraid to come closer due to disturbing Lance. 

Lance curses as he narrowly misses an astroid, and he has to practically rip the steering wheel off to dodge a humongous asteroid hulking directly at his screen. The alcohol is getting into more effect, and he feels so queasy theres a moment in time when he almost gives up completely. 

He can see the home stretched from here, and he manages to crash into an asteroid to be pelted forward a bit, gasping when multiple race at his screen. He pulls up and launches over them, tumbling out of the asteroid belt and into open space. 

The cheering behind him is amplified by ten and someone's dragging him out of the seat, holding him up in his bleary confusion. He can't help but grin wide, and he pumps his fist. 

"Good job Lance!

"You're so cute!"

"That asteroid could have ate you for breakfast!" He was overwhelmed with the number of compliments and comments he was showered with. 

People started to remove their masks, and to his shock, the girl in the kabuki mask was his SISTER!

"Veronica?!" Lance yelled, and she sheepishly smiled, nudging him with her elbow. 

Lance couldn't even be mad at her at this point, and he glanced towards the door, where Keith Kogane, aka the royal pain in his ass since the _official_ Garrison orientation and registration was leaning against the door with a smirk. 

Lance wanted to wipe that smirk off his face, he shouldn't even be happy that Lance was winning. He was all pouty and rude during orientation, what makes him think he can be all sweet now?

Keith stood up straight, winking and holding up his mask. 

Lance's mouth dropped, eyes laying on the wolf boy mask. Keith laughed, and turned the corner, leaving Lance in a state of shock, being swallowed by sweaty and warm teenagers. 

He's screwed. There's no way wolf boy, the cute man standing by the table was Keith Kogane! They were both very attractive but- ok _WHAT_. 

Before Lance could panic about his unusual thoughts towards men, Veronica pulled him into a hug. 

"Glad you didn't fail, little bro." Veronica congratulated him, and Lance sighed, purely out of relief. 

"Me too. But now I have to go sleep this off because I feel like I'm going to die." Lance whined, and Veronica laughed, patting his back. 

"Alright buddy. Welcome to the Garrison." Veronica teased him, and Lance groaned, waving her off and trudging back to his room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: ribroast


	3. day 3: loverboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's "loverboy" title gets to his head.

Lance is a good looking guy. Has a twinkling smile, a tan complexion and bright blue eyes. And Lance is aware of this. It's not like he's conceited, he's just confident in himself and he knows that he is handsome. And there's nothing wrong with that, Lance would rather feel confident in his looks then let his insecurities tear himself down. 

But even then, he is surprised when he finds out what people call him behind his back. 

_"Loverboy Lance"_

Lance loves it. It reminds him of the song, and he practically glows whenever he hears someone call him that. He hasn't even had that many girlfriends! Only a few here and there! But the title is so...rewarding? Like his romantic attempts with girls (and occasionally boys!) aren't going unnoticed. 

"This is getting to your head." Pidge mumbles grumpily, digging her plastic fork into the questionable mac and cheese.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lance gets up from his seat and winks, sauntering over to the table a few over from him. 

Pidge and Hunk both observe how Lance's victim blushes and giggles, holding her hand up to her face, her cheeks red. 

"Poor girl. Probably gonna go home tonight and write how she had a mind-melding experience with _Lance McClain_." Pidge makes her voice really high and pretends to faint, Hunk laughing. 

"She's not very pretty." Keith grumbles from next to Pidge, fumbling with his fingers, black nail polish he had only applied last night coming off in chips and pieces. 

"Aw buddy, I'm sorry." Hunk sympathetically claps Keith's shoulder from over the table, skinny Keith practically buckling under the weight of Hunk's warm hand. 

"Please don't ever confess, you'll polite his brain even more." Pidge groaned as Lance began to walk away, finger gunning the blushing girl and spinning around smiling wide at his friends. 

"Guys! Did you see that? That was pretty awesome." Lance plops down next to Hunk and takes a revoltingly large bite out of his homemade ham sandwich. 

"That was enthralling Lance. Have you ever maybe considered pursuing an actual _relationship_ instead of galavanting with chicks like they're shoes?" Pidge swung her fork at him accusingly, and Lance lunged to eat the macaroni dangling at the end of it, smirking when Pidge shrieked, letting go of the fork and leaving her utensil to the command of Lance's mouth. 

"Eh, flirting around is definitely more fun. Right Keithy?" Lance nudged his shin from under the table and Keith raised a brow in question, looking up from his book. 

"I'm gay." Keith declared, for what? the fifth time in the past few months. 

"So? I'm bi. Doesn't mean I'm not trying all the flavors." Lance wiggled his eyebrows and Keith scoffed, slamming his books shut and stuffing it into his bag. 

"You're disgusting." He spat, hoisting his bag over his shoulder and stomping out of the cafeteria, his ponytail mullet bouncing with every anger filled step he took. 

Lance sagged slightly, some pretty obvious disappointment in his face. Pidge didn't question it, and she sighed. 

"Look Lance, just." Pidge sighed, running her hand through her short, honey blonde hair. 

"You have to consider other people's feelings."Hunk finished for Pidge, patting Lance's back. 

"Keith? Having feelings? I thought that was impossible!" Lance joked, but his smile quickly faded when neither Pidge nor Hunk laughed. 

"Jeez guys, you looked like someone died or something. Where is this even coming from? You guys have never complained about me flirting with people until now." 

Pidge and Hunk shared a nervous glance between each other. Lance's stomach curled with slight embarrassment. He never considered his flirting being rude or anything, and he never took it to an extent that would even _go_ anywhere. When Lance had a crush, he'd bury it deep down and pursue others. That's the Lance way! 

"Look, we shouldn't be the one telling you this but..Keith likes you. Has for a while, so go easy on the flirting when he's around." Pidge fidgeted awkwardly.

Lance sat there, soaking in this information. He felt like he had just been powered down. 

_Keith Kogane likes him._

He couldn't believe it. Someone so hostile, looks of malice and deep thought that always caused Lance to never latch his talons into Keith, to even flirt, turned out to be Keith's infatuation? Lance just couldn't fathom the thought. He tried, he tried really hard to even replay the scene that happened in his head over again, but he just couldn't pick up anything related to something more than pure irritancy.

"Oh god, Lance is _thinking._ We really shouldn't have told him." Hunk groans, and Pidge bites her lip. 

"Lance, if you're gonna do what I think you're gonna do, don't. Keith isn't someone you get to play like that." Pidge growled, and Lance dismissed her, waving his hand. 

"Nonsense Pidge. I'm not gonna _play_ him. Who knows, maybe I like him too." 

"What?!" Hunk and Pidge both say together, and Lance smirks, hopping up from the table and grabbing his bag. 

Right on que, the bell rings and Lance is lost in the sea of students attending class. 

What Lance said wasn't completely true. Keith was insanely attractive, yes. But did Lance see himself being Keith's _lover_? No...well..he didn't know! He had never considered this to even happen, never thought Keith would even somewhat reciprocate the slightest inkling of attraction. And now that he was, Lance couldn't stop thinking about it. 

The rest of the day it was like Keith was living in Lance's mind. Like there was a new enlightening perspective around him, and every thought he imagined made him think more and more until before he knew it, it was the end of the day and he was walking home. 

Or at least, he _was_ walking home, until he saw Keith Kogane waiting in line for the bus. Before he knew it, his chuck tailors were carrying him to the back of the line, right behind a disgruntled looking Keith. 

He had taken his black hair down from it's ponytail and it curled awkwardly around the fabric hook of his bag, hunched shoulders and a visible wire probably blasting loud music into Keith's ears. Lance brushed off the funny feeling quelling inside his gut, and he clapped his hand down on Keith's shoulder. Keith jumped, spinning around, his anger contorted face, pausing momentarily, a flash of something Lance had never noticed before now, before fading into a jaded blank look. 

"What."

"I want to ride the bus with you."

"You walk home."

"Nah, not today. Wanted to catch off with this kid who has this scraggly mullet, it's like he has a whole ecosystem in there." Lance teases, and he picks up one of Keith's strands of hair. 

Keith doesn't stop him at first, and his shoulders relax slightly when Lance daringly lets his thumb sweep some hair behind Keith's ear. Keith looks cautious, his dark amethyst eyes wide and testing, like they're fragile. A buttons nose and rosy cheeks. Straight teeth. Slight stubble that Lance can feel against his wrist as his hand rests on the side of Keith's face. Keith's face snaps like a rubber band, and he slaps Lance's hand away, grumbling something incoherent before turning around. Lance is there to revel in what just happened, because _that_ has never occurred. The soft, shy look on his face. The weight in his hand, his lips parted. And now Lance wants to see it again. It's like a cigarette, he wants one more puff before his drops it completely. 

"What are you listening to?" Lance plops his head on Keith's left shoulder, and Keith stares straight forward, moving with the slowly inching crowd towards the entrance of the bus. 

"Rock music." Keith finally answers, and Lance grins at Keith's cliche. 

"What's so funny?" Keith turns to face Lance again, and Lance has to swing his head back in order to miss colliding with Keith. 

"Nothing! It's just cliche. Funny. Cute emo kid listening to ear bleeding music." Lance smirks when Keith jolts, and Lance can see his hands are shaking slightly. 

" _Cute_ huh." Keith glares at Lance, and he knows he's close to breaking Keith. 

"Yeah, definitely cute." Lance fires back, and with that, Keith reddens. 

Lance can see it start at the bridge of his nose, and it spreads out among his cheeks, leaving him looking like he applied to much blush. It's very cute, and it does something to Lance's own face, he can feel it warm and he's sure he's blushing too. 

Keith spins back towards the progressing line and steps onto the bus, sliding his crisp dollar bill into the slot sitting by the grumpy looking driver. Lance fumbles for a dollar and quickly crams it inside the machine, receiving a glare from the driver and quickly filing down the tiny isle. Lance doesn't use the bus a lot, he enjoys walking and getting that exercise in, but this was a special occasion. he smiled and plopped down next to Keith, who had crammed himself against the window and shoved his ear buds back into his ear. 

Lance being Lance, tapped Keith's shoulder again, causing him to huff and turn towards Lance. 

"Can I listen with you?" Lance scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and Keith paused, his expression cautious. Finally, after what seemed like way to long, Keith hesitantly passed one of his ear buds to Lance. 

Lance popped it in his ear and sat back as the bus began to pull out of the parking lot, subtly scooting closer to Keith. Keith must have noticed, because he pressed himself closer to the window and used all in his power not to look at Lance. Lance found it very amusing, and he poked Keith's shoulder. Keith hunched his shoulder as a sign of 'leave me alone' and Lance rolled his eyes, poking Keith's cheek.

What Lance didn't expect was for a small smile to flicker on Keith's face, before fading into nothing. Lance grinned, taking his pointer finger and slowly inching it across Keith's vision of view, before quickly landing it between Keith's eyes. Keith's eyes are crossed, and Lance can tell he's fighting a smile, because his lips are quivering. 

Before he knows it, Keith is breaking, and suddenly he burst into laughter, clapping his hands over his face and pulling away from Lance. Lance chuckles, settling back into the seat, but not before pressing even _closer_ to Keith, daring himself to push Keith's limits farther and farther.

Lance quite enjoys seeing the whir of streets that fly around them as the bus zooms through their town, stopping every 2 minutes or so. Lance knows his stop is coming up.

"You live around here right? Want me to pull the string?" Keith reached his hand up, and Lance grabbed it, pulling it down to his lap. 

"Nah, I'm good." Lance dismisses him, not letting go of his hand. 

Keith glances down at their hands but doesn't pull away, Lance can feel Keith's hand subtly melting into his, and his heart rowdily beats when Keith's fingers begin to curl around his own. Lance likes this, and even when Nyma, a gorgeous girl from his fifth period waves at him as she walks down the isle, he waves back, but doesn't put much fervor into it. 

Soon enough, Keith pulls the string, and his hand is pulling away hesitantly from Lance's, pausing his music and pulling his earbud out. Lance sighs and pulls his own earbud out, dangling it into Keith's hand. 

"If your stop wasn't back there, where is it? I'm the last stop so.." Keith turns to Lance, their shoulders now rubbing up against one another at this point. 

"Oh, it was back there. I wanted to walk you home." Lance smirks at Keith's dumbfounded expression, and when the bus comes to a stop, lance grabs his bag and stands up, filing down the isle. 

The air is fresh and there are some dark clouds forming in the sky. Keith's neighborhood is like his, suburban, but a bit more darker. The buildings had a more industrial finish to them.

"You don't have to walk me home." Keith grumbles, stuffing his hands in his pockets, his shoulders back to being hunched, like every new area they walk to Keith resets. 

"But I want to. Would suck if someone were to see a cute boy like you and snatch ya right up." Lance nonchalantly says, internally cheering when Keith tenses up, glaring. 

"I can protect myself." Keith growls, and as they turn the corner, he dejectedly kicks a pebble across the street. 

"Well, yeah! You're Keith Kogane. Residential badass, but what if this dude is massive, the size of the Hulk?? Then I can be there to charm our way out of that situation." Lance explained, and Keith rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Lance, because the Hulk is going to be lurking on my street. Out of anywhere in the world, out of anyone, he would choose me." 

"Who _wouldn't_ choose you?" Lance let it slip out, and Keith fully stopped walking, making Lance turn around to see him. 

"Why are you doing this?" Keith glared, a blush almost as strong as his pouted lip.

"What?"

"Did Pidge tell you something?" 

Lance doesn't speak. He doesn't want to lie! He's horrible at lying. But what will Keith think if he tells the truth? His stomach twists and turns with dismay and Keith scoffs.

"Screw you Lance. I'm not one of your little bitches that you can just string along. Go away, _Lover boy._ " Keith pushed past Lance and began to book it down the street. 

It took Lance a second to soak in that information, the way Keith had used his title he was so fond of, for the first time, he hated it. Wanted to forget it in fact. Lance's feet skidded against the gravel as he reached for the back of Keith's backpack, Keith leeching forward before falling back, yelping as he lands into Lance. 

"Who says I'm stringing you along? You're hot and you're funny. You're really fuckin smart too. Just because I dug up feelings from a long time ago and decided to pursue them doesn't make me some asshole!" Lance yelled out, his hold on Keith's shoulders almost painful. 

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Keith yelled, struggling in Lance's hold. 

"I _like you back_ , dumbass!" Lance yelled, and Keith stopped struggling, practically going rigid in Lance's hold. 

The air around them is almost sensitive, like a single move could bring rushing wind that'll blow both of them away in one fowl swoop. Keith slowly stands up, and Lance finally lets him go. Keith is surprisingly blank this time, and he stares directly at Lance, his lips slightly parted, like they're searching to say something. Lance's stomach wraps in a tight coil. For the first time when it comes to love, he's unsure of what to do next. It's strange. 

And it gets even stranger, because Keith is yanking Lance forward and slamming his lips into him. 

Keith is a pretty good kisser, and for someone who's just been yanked into a kiss, Lance is pretty quick to reciprocate. He clasps his hands on Keith's cheeks, and Keith's hands rest on Lance's ribs. Keith's lips are warm, and when Lance pulls back slightly to dive back in, Keith sighs softly. It makes Lance's heart quiver, and he fully wraps his arms around Keith's neck, deepening the kiss and letting his tongue press against the seam of Keith's lips, which gladly open for him. 

It gets to be to much, kissing on the side of the street, and Keith is the first to pull away, breathing heavily, hair mussed and pupils dilated, looking hazed. Lance grins, knowing he's responsible. 

It's silent for a while. They're regrouping- recovering from what's happened, and Lance is thinking heavily about what just happened. Because he's realized that he's even more of a loverly than he was before. He's more of a _lover_ now than just a flirtatious guy. 

"You gonna walk me home, lover boy?" Keith breaks the silence, and he's smiling, cheers heavily flushed. 

It definitely does things to Lance's heart, and he he nods, grinning and fastening his hand in Keith's letting him lead the way to Keith's house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: ribroast


	4. day 4: monsters and mana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pike and his friends stun a dragon, but pay the price of their actions.

The forest is thick with lush trees and timid animals as a pack of cautious adventurers travel through it. 

"Do you think Princess Thunderstorm has blonde hair or brown hair? I think it's sort of brownish because thunderstorms are super dark, you know?" Pike babbled, slicing a protruding branch out of the groups way. 

Pidge rolled her eyes, nudging Hunk with a knowing glance. 

"Pike, shouldn't you be at the _back_ of the group patrolling?" Allure scoffs, and Pike frowns. 

"But if I'm not in the front, the princess isn't gonna fall in love with me the minute she sees me!" Pike whined, but snapped shut and shuffled to the back of the group after suffering an iron glare from Allura and Shiro both. 

The rest of the patrol is less eventful without Pike's clever quips and more formal, the only sound the crunching of dull leaves under their feet and the occasional sniff or cough from one of them. It's agonizingly boring for Pike, and his ears twitch nervously at every new sound, practically aching to just have a tad of excitement. 

Pike definitely gets what he's wishing for, because suddenly, as if a match dropped in oily water, a ear splitting scream makes the group whirl around to face the trembling bushes. 

An ashy paw crashes to the ground from out of the bush, and Pidge screams, climbing onto a trembling Hunk when the long snout of a fire red dragon emerges from the brush, snorting hot air that makes Pike and Shiro stumble back. 

"Everyone get to your places!" Shire yells, scrambling to the farthest tree while Allura unhooked her bow from her back, already pulling back the lithe string, a bow resting idly on her polished thumb knuckle. 

Pike backed up, thumping into a tree. 

"Pike! Distract him!" Hunk yelled, Pike being closest to the now towering dragon that snarled down at them. 

Pike gulped, swallowing the future embarrassment. 

"HEY FIRE BREATH!" Pike yelled, the dragons head snapping horrifically towards Pike, leather skin creaking disturbingly. 

"Na na! You can't get me!" Pike jeered, running around the clearing and waving his hands, zig zagging in a complicated clump that made the dragon pause momentarily, as if it were raising it's eyebrow and saying "Really?".

"Now!" Allura yelled, and she shot one of her arrows through the air, it soaring towards the dragons heart. The arrow stabbed him in the skin, the dragon flinching and looking down.

To the group's horror, the dragon roared louder than ever before, stomping his foot on the ground and huffing. 

"Oh shit." Pike whispered, before scrambling out the way, barely missing the dragons ferocious line of fire that made every group member shiver. 

They were all separated now, and Pike bit his lip in frustration, not sure what to do. His eyes lit up in excitement, eyeing a rather study branch that was touching the dragons back, and Pike effortlessly snuck towards the tree quietly, ears nervously trembling at every suspended huff the dragon made, the trees in front of them now sparkling embers. Pike swallowed as he reached the tree, looking back to find his friends clustered in a tree awkwardly, Shiro's shield just barely covering all of them. Pike knew he had to do this, no matter how scared he was. His friend's lives were on the line. 

He grabbed the branch, hoisting himself up awkwardly until he was perched on top, hands out to help himself balance. 

"Oh my fuck..what is Pike doing?" Pidge shrieked from behind the shield, hiding behind Hunk as another drove of fire hurled itself at the deteriorating shield. 

"Oh god.." Allura face palmed, nit really knowing what to expect. 

Pike left onto the dragon, surprised to find his scales ice cold as he scrambled up the slick back reaching the neck and grabbing onto one of the horns on the back, eyes widening when he knew the dragon realized what was happening. It let out an earth shattering cry as it thrashed it's head, Pike climbing to the top where a singular horn rested. He desperately grasped it, practically falling off, clutching onto it with all his life. 

What now? He had barely made it onto the dragon, but he didn't think this far. 

He looked around the fire red scales, and felt a surge of triumph when he spotted a flight discoloration, knowing that was it's weak spot. 

He grasped for his machete, surprised to feel nothing there. 

"What?" He looked down at his empty hand, peeking over the dragons swerving head to find his machete laying on the ground, dejected. 

"Fuck." Pike whispered, and he looked around desperately for anything else he could use to kill the dragon. 

He looked at his fists, sighing. He seriously doubted he could kill a dragon with his _fists_ but it was worth a try. When the dragon's head momentarily stopped, he pounced, bringing his fist down with a war cry, right onto the discoloration of scales. Pike's hand thumped against the dragons coat, but it seemed to have some effect. 

The dragon froze, lids becoming glazed and breath slowing. Pike couldn't believe it. Did he really just manage to _stun_ a dragon with his own two fists?

He didn't have time to celebrate, because all the sudden the dragon was tilting forward. Pike looked down in shock to find a horrific drop. 

"Oh god, please no, oh god-" Lance started to scream, holding onto the dragons ear like his life depended on it as they crashed down to the ground. 

His screaming was stunted into a loud grunt, as he bounced off the dragon and onto the grassy ground. 

"Pike!" Pidge screamed, and the group scrambled towards him, their faces drawn to shock. 

"Did you just-"

"FIGHT A DRAGON WITH YOUR OWN TWO FISTS?!" 

"That was so fucking cool!"

The group helped Pike up, patting his back and giving him short hugs, Lance still blankly staring at the dragon. 

"I can't believe I knocked him out-" Lance looked up at his group of friends, happiness and pride making him smile when his friends looked at him in awe.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" A new voice made the group jump, and they spun around, their eyes practically boggling out of their heads as a man in a beautiful dress stood there. 

Black hair and skulls resting on his shoulders, holding his red cape and complimenting his wine red dress, dark violet eyes and pale skin. 

"Did you fucking kill my dragon?!" The man screamed, stomping towards them, his face fuming with anger. 

"He did! It was him, all him." Hunk pushed Lance forward, the group timidly stepping back. 

"I- I didn't kill him! He's just passed out!" Pike offered, raising his hands up defensively. 

"Oh, that makes it so much fucking better!" The stranger yelled, practically huffing hot air himself. 

There was an indignant huff behind them, and to the groups horror, the dragon drowsily opened it's eyes, growling at the sight of the group. 

"Cosmo! Are you ok?" The man raced over to the dragon, practically throwing himself over it's muzzle in a hug. 

"Wh-"Shiro incredulously looked at the man embracing the dragon like a crazy person.

Are you insane? You like walking into other people's forests and beating up innocent dragons like this? I bet you do you sick fucks!" The man hissed, glaring at them from where he stroked right above the dragons eyes, making it almost... _purr_.

"What the actual fuck is happening right now-" Allura whispered.

Pike didn't know what to do at this point. The pride that had once fueled him and made him feel invincible now made him feel horrible, and he awkwardly shuffled forward. 

"Uh, I'm sorry for beating up your dragon..we thought he was going to kill us."Pike awkwardly scratched the back of his head, and the man bit his lip, sighing. He stood up, brushing off his hands on his dress. 

"It's fine. He is a little peckish when he's hungry, so I understand the fear of him devouring you." He held out his hand, once furrowed eyebrows relaxing.

"What's your name? I'm Prince Thunderstorm." Thunderstorm asked. 

Pike's eyes widened, his mouth dropping. 

"PRINCE? I thought we were saving a princess!" Pike turned back to the group, who were now smugly exchanging glances. 

"Saving? Who said I need saving?" Thunderstorm scoffed, awkwardly putting his hand down when it wasn't reciprocated. 

Pike glanced away, clearing his throat. Though he had been expecting a princess, this was _definitely_ fine too. He held his hand out like Thunderstorm. 

"I'm Pike. And these are my group mates." He used his other hand to jab his thumb behind him. 

Thunderstorm took his hand, shaking it and glancing behind Pike. The group timidly waved, and he waved awkwardly back. 

"Uh. It's uh, nice to meet you." Thunderstorm gave Pike's hand a squeeze, and Pike's tail went ramrod straight behind him before curling with affection, making Pidge snort. 

"Uhh yeah, it was a pleasure. Being yelled at by you." Pike turned red, Thunderstorm's cheeks pinking.

They broke off the shake, and Pike dug his hands deep in his pockets, only to be interrupted by a surprisingly calm grunt from the humongous dragon behind Thunderstorm. 

"You guys want a ride?" Thunderstorm stepped aside as the dragon began to lumber up, and the group exchanged glances. 

Looking to Pike, he nodded, turning to Thunderstorm. 

"Definitely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: ribroast


	5. day 5: comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a nightmare, and Keith wakes up.

It's gripping him by the throat. Lance doesn't know what it is exactly, but it feels like it's strangling him and it's terrifying. His stomach is twirling and he feels like he can't move, like his eyeballs are melting and dripping down his cheeks and into the endless black abyss. He feels like if he stares long enough he'll be able to make out the person staring at him in the dark, and when he goes to move he's stuck there, his feet glued on the spot. The thing choking him doesn't release it's painful grip, instead tightening it so Lance wheezes weakly, hands limp at his sides. He's absolutely helpless and terrified. The violins in his head shriek and scream as the pressure gets to much, as his need for air becomes desperate, and he wants to scream out for help, as the pressure in his nose and eyes makes him feel like he wants to explode. 

He finally lets out a scream, and suddenly he's being jostled awake and he realizes the wails are coming from him,and that the person shaking him is his husband. 

"Jesus, Lance are-" Lance pulls him down so he's fully on top of him, till his shaggy black hair is all Lance can smell and he understands that Lance doesn't want to talk, just wants to hug. 

"Keith." Lance whispers, and Keith hums wrapping his arms tighter around Lance, his head buried in Lance's right shoulder, taking deep breaths that blow right back out and make Lance shiver. 

He opens his eyes to find that they're where they were when he fell asleep in Keith's arms hour before; their bedroom. 

Keith pulls back, so they can look at each other in the dark, the only light the bright lantern of the moon. 

"Are you ok?" Keith asks, his hair mussed and his eyes still a little droopy. 

He's definitely a lot more grizzled from when they were up in space, baby fat gone for a sharp jaw and small timid mouth now a stoic frown, unless seeing Lance. Lanky body traded for something more toned, voice though still the same, a different throatiness to it. Lance will always love Keith, especially this older, grizzled version that he married. He reaches up and brushes a piece of black hair from his forehead, and it makes Keith's concerned brow smooth out into something relieving. 

"No..but I will be if you hold me more." Lance finally answered back, and Keith immediately dove back down, completely enveloping in an almost strangling hug, his arms wrapped around Lance like a cage, hot breath on his beck again and legs in between Lance's deft fingers tracing little circles on his low back. 

Lance sighs, as if a wave of new calm had been washed over him. The dream is now a distant memory, like something faint and sad, but not something to dwell on.

" 'always be here for you. No matter what baby." Keith mumbled, tightening his grip that makes Lance happily sigh, gladly wrapping his arms around Keith's neck and pressing kiss into his hair. 

The wind distantly blowed in the open window, and Lance's eyes began to softly drift shut. As the weight of Keith on top of him grounding enough to allow himself to drift off again, Keith pressed a soft kiss to Lance's neck. Sleep finally took him again. but this time, he didn't have a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: ribroast


End file.
